many fruit trees will do well containers on the west facing side, but will also need protection from the hot summer sun with shade cloth for many years until a fuller canopy develops. the pot itself should always be shaded in our summer climate to avoid overheating roots. you'll need a larger sized container if you expect to hold a decent Amt of fruit. I've nectarines , citrus, cherry and blueberries both standard & dwarf stock in containers. You could add more citrus, like any of the 4winds 'dwarf' trees (most retail ones are on trifoliate). Or true dwarf peach, nectarines, or apricot on from Dave Wilson nursery (nectazee, honey babe, pixiecot, etc). you could buy new 'standard' full size trees & they tend to dwarf naturally dropped in the container, but the trees listed above are a little easier when you're starting out.

I think I would prefer an axe of any size over a mattock so maybe you can borrow one before buying. My mattock would just bounce off of large roots. I have never seen root guard but the contractor said he wants to use as little as possible because it is expensive. It sells by the foot so must be at least a little flexible. The Hi-Lift jack is one used by off roaders and there will be many pictures of them on Google. In some off road situations, you would be really glad you brought one along and they have many uses in addition to jacking up vehicles. It would not be good for very many cars although I got my Camaro out of a rut in Wyoming many years ago. The alternative walk for help was not very appealing in my location at the time. My Hi-Lift is the four foot high model and has done everything I asked of it. There are some knock-offs offered by Harbor Freight and others but if buying one again, I would still go for the real thing. I finally gave away my large tiller after owning it for 30 years. It seldom got used after I bought my Mantis because my entire yard had been tilled deep. I would not hurry to buy a Mantis either because I doubt that they are suited to all situations. A wrecking bar is a bar of steel about six feet tall (approx) and about an inch or so in diameter. They are really useful sometimes. When I bought my house, we had a bed of Bird of Paradise plants and I liked them until my wife wanted to move them. After finally getting those things out of the ground, they went into the garbage. A neighbor offered me a giant Bird of Paradise once as long as I dug it up. I dug for a while and got nowhere so it is still in his yard. I don't want one that bad. Bamboo is also something that I would never put in my yard after removing all that were left to me by the previous owner of my house.

Okay, orange for juicing - the classic Valencia is our "juicing" orange. But, if you'd like a very delicious alternative, try the Page mandarin hybrid. Think of it as a "Minneola hybrid". It is 3/4 mandarin and 1/4 grapefruit, and it is out of this world good, especially for juicing. My favorite fruit for juicing. Or, if you're adventurous, try a blood orange, like a Moro, or the best tasting of of the blood oranges, a Tarocco (either a "Bream" or if you can find it, the best tasting of all the Tarocco's, the "Thermal"). And orange for eating out of hand would be any of the great navel varieties. You certainly can juice them, but drink the juice right away, as their juice contains a higher amount of a chemical, when exposed to air creates a second chemical that will make the juice become a little bitter. But, best eating out of hand type of orange. The classic of course is our wonderful Washington Navel. A great couple of alternatives would be the beautiful Cara Cara navel (a sport of the Washington), which is a bit sweeter, and has pretty pink flesh (lycopene), or the classic Minneola tangelo. I love my Cara Cara. Satsumas tend to grow in a more weeping fashion (very beautiful specimen trees for your yard, so maybe? a spot in your front yard to show it off), so, instead of a Satsuma (which really is not the best tasting mandarin, imho), I would suggest a Tango mandarin. More upright, and one of the very best tasting mandarins out there. Another excellent option, and the very BEST of all the mandarins (again, imho), is the Seedless Kishu. If you have small kiddos, this is the perfect mandarin for them - pint-sized, completely seedless, very zipper skin, melts in your mouth with a rich, complex, sweet flavor. Grapefruits. The best 100% grapefruit variety for us in the more coastal areas of S. California will be the Rio Red. Very pretty red flesh (lycopene, again). If you would prefer a little sweeter tasting grapefruit, I would definitely go with the Oro Blanco grapefruit hybrid (pummelo x grapefruit), or it's "sister", the Melogold (which I think is a wee bit better, sweeter, thinner skinned). And, if you really want a sweet grapefruit, the Cocktail grapefruit, which is not even a grapefruit, although marketed as such, but a pummelo x mandarin cross, and my favorite of all the "grapefruits". I believe Clausen's has all the varieties I've mentioned. But, that's a HOOF from Culver City, let me tell you. There are some great options up in your area for good nurseries: Armstrong Nurseries, and they can even special order for you. Also Burkard Nurseries in Pasadena: http://www.burkardnurseries.com/plant-lists/citrus-trees , And, Sperling Nursery in Calabasas an N. Hollywood (think they still have their N. Hollywood location): http://sperlingnursery.com/ Another option if you're in the Bakersfield area is buying directly from Willits & Newcomb. They are one of the best commercial tree growers (along with Clausen's), and they also should have all the varieties just about, that I've mentioned. Hopefully our Los Angeles area forum members can also offer up some suggestions. These options will be more expensive than either Clausen's or W&N (as they're getting their trees from folks like Clausen's or W&N), so bit of a trade off - price vs travel :-) Lastly, I would still recommend going with semi-dwarfing rootstocks. Either Troyer/Carrizo, or even C35. Your tree will top out at about 15' - still way too tall for me - but you'll be able to manage your trees much, much better than trying to get a tree that wants to be 20 or 30' down to 15'. Citrus are tip fruiting trees, so you have to be careful in how to prune them, or you can end up pruning away future fruit. You would need to be very good a drop-crotch pruning, and most folks aren't :-) Stick with semi-dwarf rootstock and you will only need to prune out dead wood every 3 to 5 years from the interior of the tree, as citrus have lovely growth habits, and semi-dwarf trees should give you the perfect height tree for your particular application. Most of the trees at the UCR Citrus Variety Collection are on semi-dwarfing rootstock, and they are huge. Patty S.

Despite the popularity of fescue, in particular the Marathon family of dwarf fescues, I think it is irresponsible to put a turf more at home in the north, into a southern situation. This is especially important in the light of California not having the most reliable water supply. The UCR turf tests said that fescue worked as well as others, but I can't help but think something was wrong with that. Probably the easiest turf to maintain in full sunlight would be UC Verde. Bermuda would work but it is not the easiest to maintain, because it needs fertilizer every 6 to 8 weeks to remain green, and it can get weedy if it goes unmowed for a few weeks. If you have shady areas, then St Augustine is the only choice for grass although there are other ground covers that can do well in the south. Asiatic jasmine is popular around San Antonio. My current location in Bandera has far too many deer running around to grow jasmine. UC Verde comes in plugs, but they establish quickly. You probably don't need as many plugs as they recommend since...they spread quickly. That would depend on your very specific timing. One of your neighbors in Rialto is currently on this forum. He's got bermuda sod in his back yard. Keep us informed on what you pick and how it's doing. There seem to be more questions about UC Verde, so if you go that direction, some pictures would be nice to see.